Science Education Gets Solar Powered In Developing Countries

Thanks to solar powered generators, schools in rural areas of developing countries now have better access to science education.

Thanks to a combination of solar-powered generators and mini-projectors, science classes in developing countries are becoming much-improved.

Traditionally, the lack of electricity in rural areas of developing countries has made teaching subjects such as science difficult, as teachers are unable to use multimedia teaching tools, such as showing students slides of actual hands-on experiments. Diesel generators can be both expensive and dangerous, and digital projectors typically consume a lot of electricity.

However, with a solar-powered generator and a mini-projector — which requires anywhere from 1/4 to 1/6 of the energy of a typical digital projector — the use of multimedia has become much more viable.

Currently Professor Tony Rest and Keith Wilkinson, a former teacher in Zambia, are utilizing the technology for teaching the sciences, but believe that it could be used for other subjects, as well — everything from plumbing to engineering.

"By extending the breadth of subjects benefiting from the use of IT, the overall cost of using a solar energy generator is reduced," Rest told Science Daily. "Another spin-off is that students in rural schools gain access to valuable IT skills."